Motorola K1m MOTOKRZR reviewed on Verizon

We figure peeps who've placed their orders through Verizon's site for Motorola's new gotta-have-it clamshell need a little reading material to pass the time while they wait for the good folks in the shipping industry to make their phones materialize -- so without further ado, we present PC Magazine's take on the Motorola K1m MOTOKRZR (pictured right). While the K1m is undoubtedly a fabulous-looking flip, PC Mag seems to share the same brooding, mildly pessimistic view we do: it's essentially a V3m in a narrower, shinier package. On the plus side, the new dimensions apparently make the phone both easier and more comfortable to hold against the ear, battery life is top-notch with just over five hours of tested talk time, and the microSD slot means many owners will be able to carry over their investments in memory expansion from prior phones. Sadly, signal strength doesn't quite match that of its older sibling, and the UI is typical Verizon fare -- no Flash here, a la the VX8500 Chocolate -- though it does share the Chocolate's tricky-to-use touch sensitive controls. In the end, it seems the K1m ends up setting the standard once again for mobile industrial design, while simultaneously managing to fall further behind in the spec sheet race.

[flareak @ Sep 29th 2006 11:38PM]

I could sure use that dr. pepper

[Joel Kimble @ Sep 29th 2006 11:46PM]

judging by the logo on the can, you might want to get one that isn't quite so old.

[max @ Sep 29th 2006 11:51PM]

after hearing all the gripes about this verizon version, i can't wait to get my hands on the phone from alltel on october 5th and enjoy the improved motorola ui and full functionality.

[Harry K @ Sep 30th 2006 12:05AM]

I used to be a huge motorola fanboy but ever since I got my s710(yeah it might be a little on the bulky candybar side but it it is realla great phone...from the design all the way to the software side and it was offering what's offered in this phone much earlier too....so give me a sony ericsson phone over a motorola any day

[Jenna @ Sep 30th 2006 1:53AM]

*sigh* Once upon a time I had a s710. Then my puppy decided to use it as a teething ring. I loved that phone, no matter what people say about it. It was the most beautiful phone I ever had, and I still mourn for it. The phone that the insurance company replaced it with (a Samsung D800) will never compare...and serves as a painful reminder of my phone's untimely demise.

[QUOW @ Sep 30th 2006 12:08AM]

Sorry, I'll buy a phone with power, that will be able to run future apps and keep me content for at least a year.

This phone does none of that, and seems to be almost a "re-marketing" of the already geezerific RAZR. One could compare it to the usefulness and grandeur of bottled water.

[QUOW @ Sep 30th 2006 12:09AM]

...and why do I show up as "QUOW"?!?! "Geriskogul", dammit. What the hell is QUOW?

[m-p{3} @ Sep 30th 2006 12:41AM]

Man, that Dr.Pepper would be great..

[Alan @ Sep 30th 2006 1:06AM]

This phone's older sibling, the Motorola RAZR V3m is a spectacular phone. I am talking about the original V3m with the silver metal keys and the charcoal case. The signal strength is excellent. The stereo Bluetooth works well with my handsfree speakerphone.

Good Luck!

Alan

[Sam Haakenstad @ Sep 30th 2006 1:14AM]

Looks Really Nice, but the fingerprints look like they would get annoying.

[shaliron @ Sep 30th 2006 10:11AM]

Well it's silly to expect great functinality with a fashion phone, but Motorola, even with the improved specs and menu, you still lag behind the others with a poor overall phone. I'd pick the SE Z610 over this anyday.

[Ammon Cunningham @ Sep 30th 2006 2:17AM]

ok, this phone is sooo stupid! The RAZR was dumb too. This one is worse though!, it's frickin' over 4" long!!!! WHY?? why would you want a phone over 4" long when it's closed??

[Alex C @ Sep 30th 2006 4:17AM]

I was thinking about getting this phone.

Then the guy in the shop told me he just got one of the Samsung D900s. It's a spectacular phone, no contest in my opinion. Really thin, all the features, and easy to use.

A good replacemnt for my nearly 3 year old razr.

[Finished Law School @ Sep 30th 2006 6:30AM]

Is this a phone for people who do not look at the specs of a phone and compare it to the specs of other phones considering this is not really an upgrade of any sort from the V3c?
This K1m sounds pointless really...
Is Moto out of new ideas?

[Gok @ Sep 30th 2006 6:50AM]

Where is my black GSM version? Damn Verizon, stop paying moto so much to get exclusives!

@jenna, I agree that the S710a was so nice.. though ive moved on 3 phones since then, I still have my s710.

[Elango Ganesan @ Sep 30th 2006 7:15AM]

I don't see the likes of Palm or Motorola building in a mini/nano projector into their pda-s/cellphones. To me that makes it an interesting combination - more than the pictre taking/mail sending pda-s thats in the market.

http://o-turn.blogspot.com/2006/09/pdas-with-built-in-projectors.html

[Jim @ Sep 30th 2006 9:31AM]

I have the Razr V3i which is the full-size iTune enabled bad boy. It rocks... literally.
Not sure why they never releases it over here to the masses.

Everyone thinks it's a verizon razr, but this boy runs t-mo, and I love it.
I'd like a real keyboard, but I'd also like a Vicky Secrets model too..

Happy dialing.
Jim

[Sreepranav @ Sep 30th 2006 5:07PM]

Well, I think Moto designed this elegant piece of crap mainly because of all the morons who look at a phone and buy it.

Personally, a phone is a phone. As long as it can call, and has great battery life, I'm happy with it.

But when you're paying THAT much, and you can easily get a phone that 30 times better... it seems like a waste of money to me. Thin really isn't in. If it was, why would everyone be eating at McD's?

[illogico @ Oct 1st 2006 10:54AM]

If the Dr. Pepper was a Verizon Wireless version......it would have about half the taste, half the carbonation and half the color. However, when you opened it to drink it's half full contents it would scream "V Cast!" In other words, the MOTOKRZR Verizon Wireless version will probably be gutted just as the Motorola V3M"VCAST!" phone is.

[SteveJ @ Oct 2nd 2006 11:05AM]

My $40 pay-as-you-go Motorola phone from Cingular gets 11 hours of talk time. How is "over 5", then, "top-notch"? My phone is also substantially smaller.

[Ryan Schmaltz @ Oct 2nd 2006 5:25PM]

I recently read a PC Mage article about hacking a Verizon RAZR to unlock the better Motorola features that Verizon locks out. Does anyone know if this is possible (or will be possible) with the KRZR?